Tonight we updated the DNS servers to point all our domains to the new Word Press hosted site. BlogForArizona.com, BlogForArizona.net (until the DNS are all updated this is link for new site), and .org will all point to the new site, at which all new content will appear.

The Typepad site (arizona.typepad.com) on which you are reading this post, will become an archive site. Eventually, all comments will be disabled. If you are arriving at this site via a search engine or a referring link, please consider joining us in discussing Arizona politics at:

Fresh on the heels of the SB1062 veto, and with national columnists hungry to meet deadlines with something “insightful” about Arizona, the Chamber of Commerce crowd is really pushing the “Clean Elections done it!” myth hard.

“I remember having a meeting with some folks I’d call country-club Republicans, and listening to them bemoan the fact that they have no more influence because of the Clean Elections law,” said Rodolfo Espino, a professor at Arizona State University.

We will come to a screeching halt here and re-examine that thought.

Yes! Part of the super-weirdness of Arizona politics appears to be the result of the state’s 1998 public financing law, which provided tons of matching funds to unwealthy-but-energetic candidates from the social right at the expense of the pragmatic upper class. The Supreme Court took the teeth out of the law in 2011, but, by then, the traditional Republican elite had lost its place at the head of the political table.

So Brewer vetoed the very bad no good Center for Arizona Policy bill, with the attention of the world on her, and of course we must all contact her and thank her, for Republicans must be praised effusively like good doggies who haven’t soiled the rug on those rare occasions they do the right thing. Personally, I’d be embarrassed if people’s expectations of me were that low but, then again, I’m just one of those adults in the room.

We really did dodge a bullet and at risk of sounding cynical, I’m glad the focus was on LGBT discrimination from a purely tactical standpoint in addition to the moral and human rights ones. Having it framed as targeting LGBT citizens was what brought the fiercely negative reaction in the media and the organized business community around to kill it. But make no mistake, this was also very much an anti-choice bill. CAP spokesman Aaron Baer cited Hobby Lobby in a TV interview as an example for why SB1062 was needed. Had contraception access been the main public focus – and I bet CAP wishes like hell it had – there’s a good chance the bill would have been quietly signed into law with nary a peep from the Chamber of Commerce crowd because sluts.

The obvious, and only, way to put the brakes on all this dumb shit is to elect more pro-choice Democrats.

More than 140,000 Arizona citizens signed the petitions for a referendum of the GOP Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305, exercising their constitutional right under the Arizona Constitution to refer HB 2305 to the voters of Arizona to decide the issue. The repeal legislation passed by our Tea-Publican legislature would void the referendum and once again deprive the voters of Arizona of their constitutional right to vote to decide this issue.

Today Governor Jan Brewer completed the skullduggery of the Tea-Publicans in the legislature, depriving the voters of Arizona of their constitutional right to vote to decide this issue. Gov. Brewer signs elections-overhaul repeal: Governor Jan Brewer signed House Bill 2196 Thursday. The action cancels a November election where voters would have had the final say.

Your work is not done now that Governor Jan Brewer has vetoed the Religious Bigotry bill from Cathi Herrod and the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP).

The Committee of the Whole (COW) in the House is debating the CAP bill for surprise inspections of abortion clinics,HB 2284 (.pdf) TODAY. This bill is really about harassing and intimidating abortion services providers and invading the constitutional medical privacy rights of their clients. The bill is sponsored by a CAP water carrier, Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria.

Democrats and Planned Parenthood oppose the bill. The federal courts have previously ruled that snap inspections of abortion clinics are unlawful because women’s medical privacy rights are at risk.

Once again our Tea-Publican lawless legislature is pursuing the radical exremist agenda of Cathi Herrod and the CAP. Should this bill ever be signed into law, it will result in another losing lawsuit that pisses away taxpayer money in pursuit of the radical extremist agenda of the CAP.

Contact your legislators now to oppose this unlawful bill.

UPDATE: The bill was approved on a voice vote and will be scheduled for a Third Read roll call vote. Will any of the "mythical moderate Republicans" stand up to say no to this unconstitutional and unlawful bill from Cathi Herrod and CAP?

Certified Navigators will be on hand to help people enroll in a healthcare plan. Information on the new healthcare laws and how to sign up to get healthcare coverage will be presented in English and selected Asian languages (Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese). Representatives from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will also be on hand.

Free health screenings for asthma, cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure, and osteoporosis will also be available. The diabetes test requires fasting 8 hours prior to the screening.

This event is made possible thanks to a coalition of partners that includes the Center for Rural Health at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, College of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, the Southern Arizona & Pacific Islander Health Coalition, Pima County Health Department, Health hand other community organizations.

For more information, please contact Kim Tham or Sujana Vinjamuri at (520) 300-0627".

Arizona's senior member of Congress, Ed Pastor, announced today that he is retiring from Congress. Thank you for your years of service, Ed.

After 23 years in Congress serving the people of Arizona, I have decided that I will not seek re-election this year. It has been a great honor and experience, but it is time for me to close this chapter of my life and start a new one.

I want to thank everyone who has assisted me and supported me throughout my career. Thank you very much for all of your support.

There is a "consumer lender loans" bill that has made it through the House Rules Committee after approval by the House Finance Committee, HB 2526 (.pdf). It is on the Committee of the Whole (COW) Calendar #10 for TODAY. Contact your legislators to oppose this bill:

Current statute prohibits a licensee from paying a fee, commission or bonus, or give anything of value to any merchant, dealer, consumer, or other person in connection with attracting applicants or referring business, with exceptions (A.R.S. § 6-611).

Provisions

·Increases the cap on loan origination fees to $150.

·Allows a licensee to pay a fee, commission or bonus, or give anything of value to any merchant, dealer, consumer, or other person for referring business in an amount of up to $100 per completed loan.

·Allows a licensee to give a consumer any prize, good, wear, merchandise, or tangible property in an aggregated amount of up to $25.

Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) are having a bad week. First the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the state of Arizona of CAP's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.

When I addressed the Legislature earlier this year, I made my priorities for this session abundantly clear...

Among them are passing a responsible budget that continues Arizona’s economic Comeback.

Additionally, our IMMEDIATE challenge is fixing a broken Child Protection system. Instead, this is the first policy bill to cross my desk.

Senate Bill 1062 does not address a specific and present concern related to religious liberty in Arizona. I have not heard of one example in Arizona where a business owner’s religious liberty has been violated.

The bill is broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences.

After weighing all of the arguments, I vetoed Senate Bill 1062 moments ago.

Once again, Arizona is on the brink of taking a giant leap backward. This time it’s picking the wrong side in the fight for LGBT equality.

Both chambers of the Arizona Legislature recently passed a bill that would legalize discrimination against gays and lesbians on the basis of religion. Painted as a law to protect religious freedom, SB 1062 redefined “exercise of religion” and dramatically expanded the definition of a “person” to include “any individual, association, partnership, corporation, church, estate, trust, foundation or other legal entity.”

If Governor Jan Brewer signs this new bill into law, it would allow people and businesses with “sincerely held religious beliefs” to refuse to provide services or employment to anyone whose lifestyle is an affront to their religious beliefs.

The Arizona House passed the legislation after more than three hours of debate about religious freedom, discrimination, equality, and the measure’s potential negative economic impact. Repeatedly, Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, who introduced the House version of SB1062, defended the bill from attacks by Democrats, particularly Minority Leader Chad Campbell. A number of times, Farnsworth reminded the House that gays and Lesbians are not a protected class-- implying that that fact made discrimination OK. Farnsworth, Rep. John Kavanagh, and Rep. Steve Montenegro were the bill's strongest supporters, insisting that the intention of the bill to “protect” the religious people and businesses from being exposed to lifestyles that are against their religion. The vote fell largely along party lines. Every Democrat in the two chambers voted against it, joined by a total of three Republicans. (LD9 Rep. Ethan Orr, who has strong ties with the Chamber of Commerce, was one of the three Republicans who voted "no".)

At least 17 Arizona state legislators attended a lavish recruitment dinner on Tuesday for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an out-of-state right-wing corporate bill mill that wields a heavy influence in Arizona and at state capitols around the country. [Hat tip to Progress Now for the info.]

The senators and representatives, including Senate President Andy Biggs, enjoyed dinner and drinks alongside several prominent lobbyists in a private back room at Donovan’s, one of the Valley’s finest steak and chop houses. They came at the behest of Rep. Debbie Lesko, ALEC’s Arizona Chairwoman, whose leaked invitation billed the event as “an Arizona ALEC Membership Reception/Dinner” while including her House office number for RSVPs. It is unclear how many Arizona legislators Lesko invited to Tuesday’s shin-dig, but no Democrats were seen arriving.

In addition to Sen. Biggs and Rep. Lesko, lawmakers spotted at the dinner included: Reps. Eddie Farnsworth, John Kavanagh, Carl Seel, Brenda Barton, Bob Thorpe, David Livingston, J.D. Mesnard, Justin Olson, Michelle Ugenti, T.J. Shope, Adam Kwasman, Jeff Dial; and Senators Nancy Barto, Chester Crandell and Don Shooter. [You'll remember that Farnsworth and Kavanagh were big stars on Thursday-- valiantly defending the anti-gay bill SB1062-- when the Arizona House passed it. You'll also remember that Farnsworth, Olson, Ugenti, Lesko, and Seel were on the committees that forced the death of the Equal Rights Amendment by not hearing it. So, who are they supposed to be working for?]

Paul Waldman at The American Prospect has an insightful look at the Religious Liberty Campaign of the far-right launched in 2012. This is not a recent home-grown campaign coooked up at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) as our local media would have you believe. CAP is just one of many far-right religious organizations in a network of far-right religious organizations that is quite literally seeking to redefine the meaning of the First Amendment. Platinum-Level Citizenship:

[C]onservative Christians have mounted a little war of their own, fought in the courts and state legislatures. The enemies include not just the Obama administration but gay people, women who want control of their own bodies, and an evolving modern morality that has left them behind.

In the process, they have made a rather spectacular claim, though not explicitly. What they seek is nothing short of a different definition of American citizenship granted only to highly religious people, and highly religious Christians in particular. They are demanding that our laws stake out for them a kind of Citizenship Platinum, allowing them an exemption from any law or obligation they'd prefer to disregard.They would refashion the First Amendment in their image.

Tea-Publicans are not serious about public policy. Everything they propose turns out to be a disaster.

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO)report(.pdf) scoring the GOP health care alternative to 'Obamacare' finds that it would reduce the number of people receiving employer-based coverage, increase dependence on government-sponsored health care, and raise the national deficit.

The proposal, which Republicans voted for in the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this month, would alter the definition of full time employment under the Affordable Care Act from 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week and exempt more businesses from penalties for not offering employer-based insurance or lower the overall penalty burden. Under existing law, employers with more than 50 workers pay a penalty if their full-time employees (defined as working an average of 30 hours a week) receive subsidized coverage in the law’s health care exchanges.

A federal judge hasruled(.pdf) that Texas’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the equal protection guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. According to Judge Orlando Garcia, a Clinton appointee, the state’s marriage laws deny same-sex couples the right to marry, and therefore “demean their dignity for no legitimate reason.” Garcia stayed his decision pending appeal, so same-sex couples cannot begin marrying yet.

* * *

The ruling would prevent the state from enforcing its 2003 law and 2005 constitutional amendment that limited marriage to opposite-sex couples. Voters passed that amendment by a 3-to-1 margin, but a plurality of Texans now support marriage equality.

According to the ruling, not only are these families denied benefits under the law, they are also subjected to “state sanctioned discrimination, stigma, and humiliation,” explaining: “In this case, it is clear that Plaintiffs suffer humiliation and discriminatory treatment under the law on the basis of their sexual orientation, and this stigmatic harm flows directly from Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage.” Garcia cited Windsor, the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, noting that not recognizing same-sex marriages “demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the Constitution protects.”

The Mayor delivered his annual State of the City speech today at the Tucson Metro Chamber's luncheon at the Tucson Convention Center. Here's the entire speech, in case you missed the lunch. Mayor Rothschild was elected in Nov. 2011, so this is his 3rd address.

Tucson in Transition

February 26, 2014 State of the City Address Mayor Jonathan Rothschild

Introduction

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2014 State of the City Address. I’d like to thank the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Tucson Convention Center for hosting this year’s event. Thanks especially to the Chamber for sharing proceeds with three local nonprofits that are helping with several of my initiatives: 51 Homes Vets, Make Way for Books and Tucson Clean & Beautiful.

Each of these charities works in a different area – ending veteran homelessness, increasing childhood literacy and restoring Tucson’s tree canopy – yet all share the same model for success: bringing together individuals, businesses, government and nonprofits to address community needs.

In June, I accepted the President’s challenge to end veteran homelessness in Tucson by December 31, 2015 – which means placing 1,650 homeless veterans in permanent housing. That’s a goal we’re on track to meet. Working with 18 partner agencies, including the City’s Housing Department, we’ve already housed close to 500 formerly homeless veterans.

In August, in partnership with the Arizona Daily Star, we launched a volunteer recruitment drive to double the number of reading coaches in Reading Seed, a program that pairs struggling readers in grades K through 3 with trained volunteers. Too many of our children don’t read at grade level by 3rd

grade, a critical milestone that predicts future success in school. We met our goal, adding more than 600 volunteers, who will help more than 1,200 students, all, or almost all, in Title 1 schools. 1,200 lives changed – 1,800 if you count the volunteers, who often find their lives changed, too.

In October, in partnership with Tucson Clean & Beautiful, TEP, Long Realty and others, we rolled out our 10,000 Trees Campaign, encouraging individuals, business and community groups to plant desert-adapted trees, especially in neighborhoods that lack shade. That’s another goal we’re on track to meet. To date, we’ve planted more than 4,000 trees.

These are basic needs our community is tackling together, through public-private partnerships: housing, literacy and the environment.

2

Of course, City government works to meet basic needs every day – water, transportation, sanitation, public safety, parks, courts, building safety and others. There’s renewed emphasis on the basics – on what the City does best, and what’s best left to others.

The basics matter. Like moving forward on long-delayed road restoration projects, as we’ve begun to do with passage of the $100 million road bond – on time and on budget, I might add. Like building sidewalks, cleaning medians and removing graffiti. The basics build pride in our community. Doing the basics well helps attract the capital we need to build our community.

I just gave some examples of public-private partnerships with the nonprofit sector. These partnerships can work equally well with the for-profit sector.

Downtown Redevelopment

For example, downtown looks quite different than it did two years ago. It looks quite different than it has for the last 40 years – a veritable, Biblical wandering in the desert. How did this happen? Ending the Rio Nuevo dispute, building the streetcar line and adopting a tax incentive – a public-private partnership – that helps developers yet guarantees a greater return to taxpayers – all this has visionary developers and business owners investing in downtown.

Over the next year, you’ll see close to $9 million of strategic improvements made to the Tucson Convention Center. You’ll see young entrepreneurs move their businesses and dreams downtown – at CoLab or Connect Coworking. You’ll see artists and crafters mixing with coders and hackers at places like Maker House and Xerocraft. You’ll see ground broken on a new, modern, urban hotel. And, as people continue to move downtown, maybe – just maybe – you’ll see that cornerstone of urban neighborhoods, a grocery store.

I don’t highlight downtown redevelopment just because it’s a success we can all see. I highlight it because it’s a working example of what our city can be.

I want to review some of what we accomplished last year, working together. Too often, we underestimate our city’s capabilities.

In the automated poll of 802 Republicans by Coleman Dahm, a Republican political consulting firm in Phoenix, 57.1 percent of respondents who were asked about the bill said they would like Brewer to veto it. Only 27.6 percent said they want her to sign SB1062. The remaining 15.3 percent had no opinion. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

Now, you are scratching your head and asking yourself, "How is it possible that 50 out of 53 Tea-Publicans in the Arizona legislature voted in favor of SB 1062, when a majority of even Republican primary voters want Governor Brewer to veto this bill? How is it possible these Tea-Publican legislators were elected to office when they are so out of touch with their own constituents?"

The dysfunctional Arizona GOP is once again allowing the disgraced and recalled former Senate President and current First Vice Chair of the Arizona Republican Party, Russell Pearce, to behave as if he is still "King Russell" (only in his own mind).

Today Russell Pearce chooses sides in the GOP primary for governor by advising the Christian Right, "If you call yourself a Christian, now is the time to stand and be counted in the name of God, country and family" -- and vote for Cap'n Al Melvin! From the Arizona Republic, Stand up, Christians:

If you call yourself a Christian, now is the time to stand and be counted in the name of God, country and family.

* * *

I was very disappointed to see some of our Republican candidates for governor lose their nerve when it came to Senate Bill 1062, which amends the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. And now some state senators who voted for it want to hide and retract their vote for religious freedom.

The Way Forward: Tax and Spend

Have you heard? Our economic policy debate is getting some spring cleaning.

President Barack Obama has signaled that he’s had it with all that talk about America being broke and the belt-tightening austerity measures that went along with it. His proposed budget for the 2015 fiscal year will reflect this reality.

You know what he should try? A tax-and–spend strategy.

Yes, conservatives have tried for years to turn that simple solution into an epithet. But it’s the best way forward.

Taxing more and spending more would stimulate a $17 trillion U.S. economy that’s not producing at full capacity and dogged by high unemployment. It wouldn’t expand the budget deficit. And it would reverse the concentration of income and wealth that’s hollowing out our middle class and denying most Americans a fair shot.

Changing tax rates and spending levels are two of the three standard tools policymakers have at their disposal to goose the economy. The other is monetary policy.

There are a couple of legal analyses out today that attempt to make the point that SB 1062, the Religious Bigotry bill, is just not that big a deal. Wrong.

Howard Fischer has a report captioned in the Arizona Daily Star, Outcry over Arizona's SB 1062 overshadows bill's limited power. Howie relies on former ASU Law Professor Paul Bender, who comments “My summary is: It means almost nothing.”"[T]he main thing people miss is, there’s no right of action against a bigot in the first place,” Bender said. “The bigot doesn’t need this.”

Howie cites the "three part test" contained in SB 1062:

The law provides a three-part test that someone seeking to use the shield would have to establish in court.

First, the person’s action or refusal to act “is motivated by a religious belief.” Second, that belief must be “sincerely held.”

And third, there would need to be proof that being forced to do something “substantially burdens the exercise of the person’s religious beliefs.”

It is that last provision that prevents SB 1062 from being a catch-all for any religious claim.

But Howie never asks the all important question: "How has this three part test been used in real world practical application?" The only reporter today to ask the correct question is Megan Finnerty at the Arizona Republic (congrats Megan!) Can courts measure sincerity of faith?:

Our most deeply held convictions cannot be proved or disproved — the love we have for our children, the faith we have in our God, the respect we have for our parents — but SB 1062 would create an opportunity for a judge or a jury to ascertain and measure them.

Religious and legal experts disagree whether a judge or jury could know if a belief was sincere. They also don’t agree on what could be considered proof of such a belief. Words and actions only go so far.

About 250 cases have been brought since the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act was put in place 20 years ago. Since then, 26 states have passed similar laws.

Judges have believed those who asserted a religious belief essentially because they said they held it, said Phoenix attorney Joe La Rue of the Christian legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, which co-wrote SB 1062.

“The courts know how to figure this out; they’ve done it,” La Rue said. “The court generally takes your word for it. You don’t presume a person is lying. You take them at their word unless the belief is so preposterous or so over the top that you couldn’t.”

"The goal of the Great March for Climate Action is to change the heart and mind of the American people, our elected leaders and people across the world to act now to address the climate crisis.

On March 1, 2014, hundreds of climate patriots will set out from Los Angeles, CA, walking 3,000 miles across America to Washington, DC, inspiring action to resolve the climate crisis. This will be one of the largest coast-to-coast marches in American history.

Marchers will be expected to adhere to a strict code of non-violence according to the principles employed by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. An addendum that explains this in greater detail will be provided before the march starts next year. Also, we will provide mandatory non-violence training at the start of the March.

The March seeks to build the broadest possible public consensus and is focused strictly on the climate crisis. Marchers will, of course, have their own personal stories and perspectives. However, it is important that we stick to the core message, in unison, with our words, signs and public presentations.

We plan to govern the March through a “city council” of marchers elected by marchers. At times, we will employ a “town meeting” style of governance involving the entire marcher community, with a simple majority vote to make a decision".

So, how does Arizona rank? All in all, it's one of the more unequal states, but the data don't suggest there's any pernicious reason for that. The worst statistic for Arizona is that 84.2% of our income growth between 1979 and 2007 went to the top 1%. Only four states, Nevada, Wyoming, Michigan and Alaska, did worse. In each of those states, 100% of the income growth went to the top 1%.

If you're seeking to break into the top 1% in your state, Arizona is a good place to be, because its threshold for the top 1% income group is only $267,667, lower than all but 10 of the other states.

In terms of percentage of total income going to the top 1%, we're at exactly 20.0% as of 2007. That places us at 12th worst. The worst are Wyoming, Connecticut, New York, Nevada and Florida, ranging from a 28% share to a 33.4% share of income going to the top.

Do the data really tell us anything? Perhaps. On the surface, there is no apparent correlation between governmental policy at the state level and the states' statistical outcomes. The largest driver of inequality for a state seems to be whether it has places rich people like to live, not anything it does policy-wise. California, New York, Washington and Texas all show relatively high levels of inequality, even though two are high tax states and two are low tax states. The only states that have places where the rich like to live and are relatively low in inequality are Maryland and Virginia, but that may be attributable to their proximity to DC and the large number of well-paying middle class jobs in the area.

So, the takeaway it seems is that high income earners really are not that sensitive to income tax rates. The rich people who live in Seattle live there because they like Seattle, not because Washington lacks a state income tax, or so it seems. The rich people who prefer a city that never sleeps live in New York, despite its relatively high tax rates.

Sean Noble is a type of right wing operative I find particularly annoying. These guys are total miscreants but have the cornpone choirboy routine down pat. They often like to preen about how they don’t use profanity, which makes them more moral than us dirty liberals. Arizona is thick with these homespun “consultants”, hoovering money out of gullible rich wingnuts with political aspirations, but Noble has really scored. He was recently the subject of a hard-hitting investigative report from ProPublica, in which he was revealed as the ringleader funneling “dark money” from the Koch brothers to various conservative causes around the country. One of them was Mitt Romney’s campaign – they might as well have taken a match to that money – but others were more successful, such as the defeat of the Scott Walker recall in Wisconsin. Dark Koch money has flowed like a river into Arizona. It funded the legal attack on independent redistricting and the defeat of Prop 204 (making the one cent sales tax permanent for education) in 2012, among plenty of other things.

Streetcar Celebration: Destination 4th Avenue, will be held on Wednesday, February 26 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm on Fourth Avenue near the 6th /7th Streets Streetcar stop.

Streetcar Celebration: Destination 4th Avenue is the second of several monthly streetcar celebrations to promote shops, restaurants, and entertainment and cultural attractions along the Sun Link streetcar line, in advance of passenger service in the summer of 2014. Visitors can see one of the new Streetcars up close, enjoy outdoor entertainment, and take advantage of specials and promotions provided by the merchants at participating businesses.

The event will feature:

A close-up view of one of Tucson’s new “Made in America” Sun Link modern streetcars, passing by and parked nearby.

FREE Live Music

Merchant Discounts and Events (see below).

To obtain discounts, please sign up at the Friends of the Tucson Streetcar Booth located near the 6th/7th Streets Streetcar Stop and you will receive your Friends of the Tucson Streetcar key chain or pin.

Fourth Avenue features 23 restaurants and cafes, 10 bars and pubs, over 35 locally owned retail shops, and a variety of salons and services.

Merchant Discounts and Events:

More to Come.

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Tucson Streetcar and Fourth Avenue Merchants Association. The Friends of the Tucson Streetcar will be hosting similar events monthly near key stops on the Streetcar line, to showcase the many unique, local businesses and destinations within easy reach of the Streetcar. Look for Streetcar Celebration: Destination Downtown coming in March.

Carolyn's note: I attended the first Streetcar Celebration at Main Gate Square in January, and spent some time at the merchants in that shopping area, and saw the UA Pep Band perform with Wilbur & Wilma Wildcats dancing in the streets. Stop by tomorrow for this 2nd destination celebration, and see the modern streetcar up close, get your Friends key chain or pin, & check out the discounts.

The GOP must "stop being the stupid party." - Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)

Stuck on Stupid

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, the delusional 2016 Republican presidential wannabe, made a complete ass of himself following the National Governor's Association meeting with President Obama on Monday.

With the Republican Governors Association chair, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), noticeably absent from his assigned duties, the delusional 2016 Republican presidential wannabe seized the opportunity to race over to the cameras assembled outside the White House and launched into a diatribe, accusing President Obama of "raising the white flag" on job growth and turning America into "a minimum wage economy."

You may recall that on the opening day of the legislative session this year, lobbyist Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP), and her allies in the anti-choice, anti-constitutional rights for women movement suffered a major defeat when the U.S. Supreme Court denied Arizona's petition to the court requesting review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down the Arizona Tea-Publican legislature's 20-week abortion restrictions, Horne v. Isaacson (13-402).

On Monday, lobbyist Cathi Herrod and the CAP and its legal partner in the Christian Reconstructionist and Dominionist movement, the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), suffered another major defeat when the U.S. Supreme Court denied Arizona's petition to the court requesting review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Betlach v. Planned Parenthood (13-621) striking down the Arizona Tea-Publican legislature's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. U.S. Supreme Court won’t revive Arizona abortion law:

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to consider a move to resurrect an Arizona law that would have disqualified abortion providers from receiving public funding for other medical services.

The high court declined to hear Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne’s appeal of a lower court ruling that blocked the 2012 law.

In an open letter to residents beginning with “Dear Arizona,” the Star Trek actor sarcastically congratulated them for becoming the “first state actually to pass a bill permitting businesses–even those open to the public–to refuse to provide service to LGBT people based on an individual’s ‘sincerely held religious belief.’”

“This ‘turn away the gay’ bill enshrines discrimination into the law. Your taxi drivers can refuse to carry us. Your hotels can refuse to house us. And your restaurants can refuse to serve us,” Takei wrote.

* * *

“The law is breathtaking in its scope. It gives bigotry against us gays and lesbians a powerful and unprecedented weapon,” said Takei. “But your mean-spirited representatives and senators know this.” He added, “They also know that it is going to be struck down eventually by the courts. But they passed it anyway, just to make their hateful opinion of us crystal clear.”

Takei described his deep ties to the state; his husband Brad was born in Phoenix and the pair spends three weeks in Arizona every year on vacation to visit family and friends. But, Takei vowed to spend his time and tourist dollars elsewhere if this law gets the greenlight.

“If your Governor Jan Brewer signs this repugnant bill into law, make no mistake. We will not come. We will not spend. And we will urge everyone we know–from large corporations to small families on vacation–to boycott. Because you don’t deserve our dollars. Not one red cent.”

UPDATE 2/27/14: Due to reports of a winter storm, both these events have been postponed to Friday April 11, time tba. So check the Yume Japanese Garden website for updates.

Don't miss either of these two great events coming up at the beautiful Yume Japanese Gardens in Tucson:

"Prepare to be enchanted as you transport yourself to the ambience of old Japan with a nighttime stroll through Yume Japanese Gardens by the light of candles and handmade Japanese lanterns. View origami creations (some lit up) representing butterflies, horses, and other animals as you sip several delicious Japanese teas.” There will be different types of Japanese dolls exhibited for Girls Day (coming up on March 3rd), and a 7 tier doll setup will be displayed in the Japanese house (see information below).

The entire garden will be lit up with hundreds of lanterns and candles!

So, anyway, last week, David “Three Sonorans” Morales posted this on his Facebook page:

At first, I saw this and wanted to respond by pointing out that David’s memory seems to be too short for him to recall the Democratic opposition to SB1070 and HB2281. But then, I realized that, though his comments about Democrats are unfair and not based in historical fact, he may have stumbled upon an ugly truth regarding the outrage over SB1062, the latest manifestation of ugly bigotry from the legislature.

Informal conversation starts at 6:00. Video starts at 7:00, followed by discussion until whenever. (Note: We could not get a suitable license to show the Robert Reich video, so we're doing this instead.)

The Arizona Daily Star must be feeling left out today, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them.

Instead of publishing warmed-over press releases from the Martha McSally campaign as "news," CD-2 candidate Martha McSally headlines Lincoln Day dinner in Hawaii, maybe the Star should have hired a political reporter to send down to Cochise County to cover the Lincoln Day dinner in closer proximity to Tucson. What, the Star can't afford a stipend for gas and some food? Have Jim Click chip in.

FORT HUACHUCA — Some words spoken more than 150 years ago are still a battle cry for Republicans.

For the GOP today the fight to ensure the will of the people is heard is what the Republican party stands for, Casey Jones, the chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee, said at the formal opening of the annual Abraham Lincoln Day Dinner.

Quoting Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the final 14 words of the speech should be the motto of the Republican Party, Jones said.

Those words: “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” remain the clarion call of the party, the county chairman said. “We are in a grand battle to save our nation,” Jones said, noting two speakers at the dinner — U.S. Rep. David Schweikert and Arizona’s Chairman of the Republican Party Robert Graham — will specifically address the issues facing the party in this year’s federal, state and local elections.

Man, I called this on Facebook yesterday. After it was reported that Sen. Steve Pierce (R) wanted the Governor to veto SB1062, the religious bigot bill he voted for, I predicted that Sen. Adam Driggs (also R) would follow suit. Unsurprisingly, he was joined by Sen. Bob Worsley (also R).

I warned you about this bill earlier this month: SCR 1003 (.pdf) would refer a legislative ballot measure to the ballot that requires "the reauthorization of statewide initiative and referendum measures that create funds for public monies, dedicate public monies to a specific purpose or otherwise effect state General Fund (GF) revenues or expenditures."

Note that this reauthorizaton is not for all citizens initiative and referendum measures, just the ones the legislature does not like -- the ones that require the legislature to spend money on priorites decided by the voters, like heath care and education. This is the teabaggers' "I hate the Voter Protection Act" (Prop. 105 -1998) measure to undermine Prop. 105. The reauthorization applies retroactively to all specified statewide initiative and referendum measures approved on or after November 3, 1998.

The teabaggers want the opportunity to revisit and to reverse the laws that the citizens of Arizona enacted as a super-legislature exercising the powers reserved to the citizens under the Arizona Constitution and exercising their constitutional right to citizen initiative and referendum. This reauthorization provision would give opponents a second bite at the apple after seven (7) years. It would invite a perpetual campaign that seeks to undermine the legitimacy of laws enacted by the voters. The teabaggers are demonstrating their utter disdain for your constitutional rights and for democracy.

Sure 'nuf, here is the "editorial board" of the Arizona Republic arguing in favor of wage theft from retirees -- keep in mind this is deferred compensation that these employees bargained for in good faith and have earned by performing their end of the bargain. They are entitled to receive payment in exchange for their performance. Reform pensions or lose them:

The Arizona Supreme Court just handed an enormous past-due bill to taxpayers.

The state Legislature’s attempt in 2011 to rein in the costs of poorly performing pension plans is unconstitutional, according to the justices. The Arizona constitution forbids reducing public-pension benefits, which effectively means that no matter how high the costs go, taxpayers simply will have to find a way to pay them.

As a result, the pension board will have to pay out $7.9 million to bring the tab current for beneficiaries of the Elected Officials’ Retirement Plan, a part of the state’s worst performing pension trust, the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.

The ruling also applies to other beneficiaries of the PSPRS whose benefits were temporarily curtailed. That adds another $32.1 million for retroactive raises. The system will set aside $335.6 million to fund cost-of-living adjustments going forward.

* * *

The 5-0 Supreme Court decision may be perfectly rational and predictable — a constitutionally guaranteed promise made must be kept, after all. But it leaves Arizona taxpayers in a position of disturbing vulnerability, one that begs for a constitutional amendment that will allow lawmakers to make the sorts of changes the justices now say they cannot.

The Arizona Republic, formerly known as The Arizona Republican, and the mouthpiece of the establishment Republican Party in Arizona, is schizophrenic when it comes to your constitutional rights to a citizens referendum and voting.

Coliumnist E.J. Montini published Voters can suppress the suppressors: "The only way voters can guarantee it never happens again is to note of every politician who goes along with the scheme and, when those names appear next on the ballot box, suppress their re-election."

But the "editorial board" of The Republic has twice now published editorial opinions essentially telling the voters of Arizona to "go screw yourself."

The Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) stealth candidate for governor of Arizona is the only candidate yet to take a position on the Religious Bigotry bill. Cathi Herrod from CAP is on State Treasurer Doug Ducey's campaign steering committee (he proudly displays her endorsement on his campaign web site).

So Ducey would veto this bill, but he would invite Cathi Herrod from his campaign (and others) to the table to write another bill? Way to straddle the fence there, Ducey. This is not a satisfactory answer.

And what is this "before this legislative session adjourns" parameter? What's the rush? Assuming that you are elected governor (God help us) you would not take office until January 2015. This is an empty promise on which you cannot deliver.

State Rep. Ethan Orr (R-Tucson) appeared on MSNBC last week to discuss his vote against the Religious Bigotry bill, SB 1062. (Video below the fold).

E.Orr said "the insidiousness of this bill is that it excludes people from commerce, and if I have the power to exclude you from the commerce of society, I can exclude you from society itself." Not the strongest argument one can make, but I will take it. (I think his young son got it right).

I found this statement from E.Orr to be more interesting: "This bill is not the only voice that Arizona is speaking with, in fact it's not even the only voice in the Republican Party. I think most Arizonans and most Republicans are opposed to this bill and don't want to discriminate against people based on homosexuality."

OK, let me stop you right there, E.Orr. You were one of only three Republicans out of a total of 53 in the Arizona legislature to vote against this bill. 3/53 of the GOP caucus does not make you even a minority caucus within the GOP, it makes you "irrelevant" (as the Arizona Republic likes to refer to Democrats who have 37 seats in the Arizona legislature).

The pathetic print newspaper industry, in a desperate attempt to preserve a statutorily-mandated revenue stream that lost its justification decades ago, maliciously attacked Arizona House Rep. John Kavanagh in some of the most despicably self-serving and deceptive editorial pieces I've ever read.

Unfortunately, few members of the public likely understand what really is going on.

Let's be clear: Kavanagh and I are not exactly political chums, although I have nothing personal against him and do admire his willingness to comment here under his real name. But he's a right-wing conservative and I identify as Green. So I have no motive to shill for Rep. Kavanagh.

But I'm willing to give credit where credit is due, and John has introduced a piece of legislation, HB 2554, which is outstanding and long overdue. HB 2554 eliminates the requirement that newly formed corporations and limited liability companies publish their formation information in a print newspaper of general circulation.

The Arizona print newspaper industry collects millions in fees from business start-ups each year for printing these statutorily mandated notices. The notices appear in separate sections of numerous local newspapers. Nobody reads them. They go straight to the recycling bin or, worse yet, the landfill.

And it's been that way for decades.

It's what's referred to as a private tax.

A long time ago, when local print newspapers were the best way to disseminate this information and far, far fewer corporations were formed, most states had publication requirements.

No longer. All but four states have eliminated the publication requirement because it no longer serves any purpose. From the way the Arizona print newspaper lobby is squealing like a stuck pig, you would never guess this to be the case, but it is.

At the heart of the deception is the conflation of (a) the legitimate and necessary practice of providing online access to information about corporations and limited liability companies to the public; and (b) the completely wasteful and valueless practice of publishing information about new corporate and limited liability company formations in print. Those two practices are not naturally connected. The newspaper lobby, however, justifies the continuation of the giant revenue stream it derives from wasteful print publication on the basis of the public's need for online access.

Practically each line from the Republic either is misleading or is an outright lie, starting out with the glaring omission of the fact that the list of states retaining the publication requirement is down to four, and shrinking.

As part of Black History Month, the Black Women's Task Force is sponsored a documentary about the late Congresswoman Chisholm.

Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to Congress in 1968, representing New York state's 12th CD. She served for 7 terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1972 she ran for U.S. President, and received 152 votes at the Democratic National Convention in Miami, Florida. Asian American Congresswoman Patsy Takemoto Mink from Hawaii also ran in that 1972 race for President.

Documentary will be shown on Feb. 25, 6 p.m. at the YWCA on Bonita Ave, west of the I-10.

Friends and allies, please join us as we continue the momentum in our community. This is an official daily rally that will continue throughout the week! Lets increase the crowds every day and make a stance loud and clear.

Folks have the option to meet at Wingspan, 430 E. 7th Street, Tucson, at 5:00 p.m. to walk downtown for a 5:30 rally. For those who want to park and rally at Granada and Congress, folks could meet there at 5:30 p.m. with placards and horns!

We will continue the rally on the following dates starting at 5:00 p.m.:

...While last week was the final week for most bills to receive committee consideration in their chambers of origin, there is still committee activity this week.

And as evidenced by the explosion of controversy last week over the railroading of the bigots' rights bill (aka - SB1062), all sorts of hell can break loose at the Capitol at any moment.

Notes:

All committees meetings and agendas are subject to change without notice, and frequently do. If you plan to travel to the Capitol to observe or weigh in on the consideration of a particular measure, check with the lege ahead of time to confirm that the meeting that you are interesting in is still on schedule and your item(s) of interest is still on the agenda for that meeting.

Meeting rooms designated "HHR" are in the House of Representatives building.

Meeting rooms designated "SHR" are in the Senate building.

Some agendas are summarized as "looks harmless", but if they cover an area of interest to you, examine the agenda and the bills on it. If I missed something significant, please leave a comment letting me know.

In 1970, Gen. Hafiz al-Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect, took power in Syria following a long period of political instability. Assad's secular Bath Party portrayed itself as an upholder of Arab nationalism willing to defend the nation and its minorities against foreign threats and Islamic fundamentalism. Remarkably, he was able to hold on to the presidency for 30 years and then transfer power to his son, Bashar.

Under Hafiz al-Assad, the Alawites got an opportunity to overcome their second-class status but not necessarily to become wealthy. Repression was always one of Assad's tools. In February 1982, he was faced with an armed Islamist uprising. The general/president decided to make an example of the city of Hama where the rebellion was based. Estimates put the death toll resulting from the devastating attack on the city at between 10,000 and 30,000.

For the past several weeks, we here at BlogForArizona have been working quietly on a complete redesign of the blog. We are now in the process of rolling out the redesign. Over the next few days we are asking for your understanding and patience as we implement the new site.

The main difference you will see as readers is that the new blog will be accessible at www.blogforarizona.com, and the current site will be archived at arizona.typepad.com. If you have bookmarked BlogForArizona, you might want to check and see if you have might have bookmarked the address of the archive site.

All our old posts will also have been transferred to www.blogforarizona.com, but some may lack graphics and some links may be problematic, so older posts might look better on the archive. Once the transition is complete (we estimate early next week), all new posts will appear at www.blogforarizona.com only.

You may need to re-register for commenting at the new Word Press-based site. Hopefully, we will have better response and load times, better searching, better social media integration, and some great new features enabled by the richer ecosystem of Word Press application developers. We will be experimenting over the coming weeks and welcome your suggestions.

Thanks for your support and interest. New posts may continue to appear below until the transition is complete. Please continue to access our blog at www.blogforarizona.com to ensure you are seeing the latest version of the blog.

One of our readers and frequent commenters, Bess, suggested that we just ignore ole Thuckarooskie. That would be the conventional approach. But I actually think we may be on to something, so let's not stop just yet.

In Thing Two About Thucky, I guessed that the Thuckster is a religious dude, based on his conservatism and his blind faith in the economists he reveres. Turns out I likely nailed it, because he would have been the first to tell me if I had not.

Upon further reflection and discovery (Thucky gives us new insights into his pathology on a regular basis), I realize the religious aspect of him is tied far more closely to his persona than I first surmised.

The economists Thucky cites are not the only humans to whom he ascribes God-like qualities. He speaks of the "titans of industry" and the so-called "job creators" with similar reverence. In a recent comment, he actually defended the wealth accumulation of both Cornelius Vanderbilt and Sam Walton. By all appearances, Thucky is so enamored of Sam Walton that he thinks it okay that his bratty great-grandchildren live in opulence because of old Sam's great deeds.

To Thucky, imposing stiff taxes on folks like Sam Walton and Cornelius Vanderbilt would be blasphemy. He wants to lower the capital gains tax rate to a measly five percent. Yet he rarely speaks out against taxes that apply to little people, such as sales taxes and employment taxes.

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